Objectives: Assessment of serum concentrations of antiangiogenic factors, triglycerides, glucose, insulin and SHBG in women with two forms of preeclampsia (placental and maternal).
Material and methods: The study was conducted among 30 patients with placental preeclampsia and 20 women with maternal form of the disease. All patients were hospitalized at the Division of Reproduction, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, between 2010-2012. The placental form of preeclampsia was diagnosed in cases when Doppler signs of placental insufficiency were present. The maternal type of the disease was diagnosed in the absence of coexisting markers of placental insufficiency in the Doppler study ELISA was used to determine the concentrations of antiangiogenic factors (sFlt-1 and sEng).
Results: The placental form of preeclampsia was diagnosed significantly earlier than maternal type of the disease. In women with placental preeclampsia the gestational age at delivery and newborn birth weight were significantly lower than in patients with maternal preeclampsia. IUGR incidence (expressed as a percentage) was significantly higher in patients with placental preeclampsia as compared to the women with maternal form of the disease. Serum concentrations of sFlt-1 and sEng were significantly higher in women with placental preeclampsia. No differences in concentrations of glucose, insulin, triglycerides and SHBG were found between groups.
Conclusions: 1. The Two Stage Model of preeclampsia, characterized by increased concentrations of antiangiogenic factors in maternal blood secondary to decreased placental blood flow seems to better explain the pathophysiology of the placental form of preeclampsia than the maternal one. 2. Late onset of clinical symptoms in maternal preeclampsia, lower incidence of IUGR, as well as lower concentrations of antiangiogenic factors in maternal blood, do not indicate the primary role of placental pathology in the pathogenesis of the disease. 3. In spite of no difference in metabolic abnormalities in third trimester of pregnancy between two types of preeclampsia, the patophysiology of the two forms of the disease seems to be different. 4. The obtained results of metabolic markers in women with two types of preeclampsia justify the need of further studies in this field in first trimester of pregnancy.